The
R102, R103 and R104 had been planned and the concept specifications
showed that they would carry up to 150 passengers. At Cardington,
the design team had already started plans for this next generation.
The R102 initially was to have a volume of 8,300,000 cubic feet
which would have made it comparable to the LZ129 "Hindenburg",
which was completed some 6 years later.

Designated "Project H", R102 had been agreed in the
August of 1930 with a capacity some 36% larger than the lengthened
R101. It was to be built at Cardington and was to be powered by
seven improved Tornado engines.

Discussions during 1929 and 1930 centred on a still larger ship
of 9,500,000 cubic feet capacity - the R103, although it was not
yet designated as such. As quoted by Sir Peter Masefield, "This
ship would be capable of regular operations with a non stop travel
to Egypt with a substantial payload. The ship would then move
on with stops at Karachi, Rangoon and Singapore to Australia.
It was expected to reach westwards to Montreal non stop in all
weathers".
However it was agreed that Project H (R102) could carry out the
same duties being a smaller ship if additional masts were built
for refueling. Plans and land surveys were carried out at Malta
and Baghdad on the India route, and at Monkton, New Brunswick
on the Canadian route.

The future plans also included the lengthening of the Cardington
sheds and the building of one new shed capable of accommodating
two ships side by side. An additional mast would also have to
be built so that the R100 and R101 could run and operate services
concurrently.
The provisional specifications of the new R102 were:

Statistics:

Designation

G-
FAAX

Reference

R102

Length

822ft

Diameter

134ft

Speed

60.knots

Volume

7,500,000cft
(originally planned 8,300,000 cft)

Engines

7 reversible Tornado engines Two Wing cars and three aft
cars with two engines in tandem (tractor and pusher)

Artist
Impression of the R102 designed and copyright Peter Lewry

It
was seen that a 35ft extra bay would be added to the already
lengthened R101 design, giving the centre section of the
ship a more "horizontal" section. The additional
bay fitted centrally to provide the maximum sized gasbag
and more lift. Also it was hoped that by placing some of
the car externally to the ship, then this may have given
more room in the gasbag which was immediately above the
passenger accommodation. This would have also allowed more
disposable lift suitable for more commercial operations.It
was also planned that the R102 was also to have some of
the passenger accommodation protrude from below the main
hull, and so this could have been seen as early concepts
for part of the planned external smoking lounge for the
R102. The passenger capacity of the R102 was deemed to be
a realistic 50 passengers for a longer voyage duration.

The
plans of the R102 have not been discovered, but the uncovering
of the potential conversion plans of the R100, have lead to
the "speculation" that the "142ft external
car" would have looked like the artist impression shown
here

The
7,5000,000 cubic feet ship which was proposed to be built, would
carry 50 passengers and 5 tons of freight under the worst conditions
either on the Indian or Atlantic route provided the additional
tower facilities are available. The difference in the design from
the R100 and R101, show that more realistic approach had been
learnt from the designs of the forerunners. The idea that a non
stop regular service would only be appropriate if the ship would
have more disposable lift.

The
flight plans for the future years were as follows :

Imperial
Airship Programme - Flight Plans 1931- 33

1930-Summer
1933 : Construction in extended Cardington Shed
1933 : R102 Home trials within the UK over summer on completion1934
: First International flight - destination to be decided

It
was assumed that passenger fares were £150 and a full load,
2 tons of mails at say 10/- per LB, it was seen that than an airship
with this performance should be able to earn well over £20,000
on a round trip.

Fares
:

The
single fare was to be £150, being comparable with that charged
by Imperial Airways on its London to Delhi route. It was also
agreed and plans were underway, that the tickets would be issued
in agreement with a commercial travel agent to undertake the passenger
administration and distribution of tickets.

With
obtaining the information in this page from a variety of sources
from the National Archives, and Sir Peter Masefield's "To
Ride the Storm" has enabled us to provide this information.
If you have any updates to the material presented here then please
contact the AHT webmaster.

Special
thanks to Peter Lewry for his graphical representations of the
R102